News ECG: In preparation for next week’s budget, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is allocating more than £360 million to cutting-edge technology as part of his plans to transform Britain into a “superpower” in research by the end of the decade.
A “coordinated cross-government strategy” will promote innovation in “trailblazing” technologies including quantum and supercomputing, artificial intelligence, and engineering biology, according to a 10-point Science and Technology Framework.
The more innovative we are, the more we can expand our economy, produce future high-paying employment, safeguard our security, and enhance people’s lives all around the nation, he declared. Sunak’s aim to make Britain a high-tech, highly productive economic powerhouse is well known.
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His growth strategy, which will be more fully developed in the budget meeting in nine days, will include the funds with a focus on innovation and investment. The Resolution Foundation has cautioned that there won’t be much money available for giveaways at the March 15 event.
Jeremy Hunt, Sunak’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, will pledge to cut inflation from its current level of 10.1% in half and assist households with living expenses. But according to the research group, he must make difficult decisions on how to end strikes, overhaul the tax code, and boost long-term growth.
He can maintain the energy price guarantee for the typical home at £2,500 per year rather than increasing it to $3,000. This is made possible by an increase in short-term borrowing. Government sources said on Friday that the cost of the additional help over the next three months will be in the neighborhood of £3 billion.
The Office for Budget Responsibility’s major assessments, such as whether workforce shortages will turn out to be persistent and whether recent tax receipts have been robust, will determine whether there is the capacity for permanent giveaways, Resolution added.
According to Treasury sources, Hunt is unlikely to have much more headroom than the £9 billion he had at the November fall statement, which was one of the narrowest margins in history, against his fiscal constraints.
The planned strikes by driving examiners and Ofsted school inspectors will go forward starting on Monday. Mark Serwotka, the general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services union, forewarned Sunak on Sunday that “our strike action will continue to grow, with 133,000 members going on strike on Budget Day,” unless a more benevolent offer is provided to public sector workers.
A report made public on Monday claims that the government’s anti-strike legislation, which would impose minimum service standards on workers like nurses and firefighters amid labor unrest, contradicts their obligations to uphold human rights.
Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves called an end to the administration’s “sticking plaster” approach and accused Sunak’s Tories of “squandering” the economic potential of the Kingdom in an interview with the Press Association.
